The name "Richmond" appears to predate actual incorporation by more than fifty years. Edmund Randolph, originally from Richmond, Virginia, represented the city of San Francisco when California's first legislature met in San Jose in December 1849, and he became state assemblyman from San Francisco, his loyalty to the town of his birth caused him to persuade a federal surveying party mapping the San Francisco Bay to place the names "Point Richmond" and "Richmond" on an 1854 geodetic coast map, which was the geodetic map at the terminal selected by the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad; and by 1899 maps made by the railroad carried the name "Point Richmond Avenue", designating a county road that later became Barrett Avenue, a central street in Richmond.

Richmond was founded and incorporated in 1905, carved out of Rancho San Pablo, from which the nearby town of San Pablo inherited its name, until the enactment of prohibition in 1919, the city had the largest winery in the world;[20] the small abandoned village of Winehaven remains fenced off along Western Drive in the Point Molate Area. Starting in 1917, and continuing through the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan was active in the city;[21] in 1930 the Ford Motor Company opened an assembly plant called Richmond Assembly Plant which moved to Milpitas in 1956. The old Ford plant has been a National Historic Place since 1988, and in 2004 was purchased by developer Eddie Orton[22] and has been converted into an events center (Ford Point Building – The Craneway),[23] the city was a small town at that time, until the onset of World War II which brought on a rush of migrants and a boom in the industrial sector. Standard Oil set up operations here in 1901, including a what is now the Chevron Richmond Refinery and tank farm, which are still operated by Chevron. There is a pier into San Francisco Bay south of Point Molate for oil tankers, the western terminus of the Santa Fe Railroad was established in Richmond with ferry connections at Ferry Point in the Brickyard Cove area of Point Richmond to San Francisco.

At the outset of World War II, the four Richmond Shipyards were built along the Richmond waterfront, employing thousands of workers, many recruited from all over the United States, including many African-Americans and women entering the workforce for the first time. Many of these workers lived in specially constructed houses scattered throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including Richmond, Berkeley and Albany. A specially built rail line, the Shipyard Railway, transported workers to the shipyards. Kaiser's Richmond shipyards built 747 Victory and Liberty ships for the war effort, more than any other site in the U.S.[24] The city broke many records and even built one Liberty ship in a record five days, on average the yards could build a ship in thirty days. The medical system established for the shipyard workers at the Richmond Field Hospital eventually became today's Kaiser PermanenteHMO,[25] it remained in operation until 1993 when it was replaced by the modern Richmond Medical Center hospital, that has subsequently expanded to a large multiple building campus.

Point Richmond was originally the commercial hub of the city, but a new downtown arose in the center of the city, it was populated by many department stores such as Kress, J.C. Penney, Sears, Macy's, and Woolworth's. During the war the population increased dramatically and peaked at around 120,000 by the end of the war. Once the war ended the shipyard workers were no longer needed, beginning a decades-long population decline, the Census listed 99,545 residents in 1950. By 1960 much of the temporary housing built for the shipyard workers was torn down, and the population dropped to about 71,000. Many of the people who moved to Richmond were black and came from the Midwest and South. Most of the white men were overseas at war, and this opened up new opportunities for ethnic minorities and women, this era also brought with it the innovation of daycare for children, as a few women could care for several dozen women's children, while most of the mothers went off to work in the factories and shipyards.

In the 1970s the Hilltop area including a large shopping mall was developed in the northern suburbs of the city; this further depressed the downtown area as it drew away retail clients and tenants. In the late 1990s and early 2000s the Richmond Parkway was built along the western industrial and northwestern parkland of the city connecting Interstates 80 and 580.

In the early 1900s, the Santa Fe railroad established a major rail yard adjacent to Point Richmond, the railroad constructed a tunnel through the Potrero San Pablo ridge to run a track from their yard to a ferry landing from which freight cars could be transshipped to San Francisco. Where this track crosses the main street in Point Richmond, there remain two of the last operational wigwag grade crossing signals in the United States, and the only surviving examples of the "upside-down" type, the wigwag is an antiquated type of railroad crossing signal which was phased out in the 1970s and 80s across the country. There was controversy in 2005 when the State Transportation Authority ordered the BNSF railroad company to upgrade the railroad crossing signals. A compromise was achieved that included installing new modern crossing gates, red lights and bells while not removing, but simply shutting off the historic ones and preserving their functionality for special events.[26]

The Pullman Company also established a major facility in Richmond in the early 20th century,[27] the facility connected with both the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific and serviced their passenger coach equipment. The Pullman Company was a large employer of African American men, who worked mainly as porters on the Pullman cars.[28][29] Many of them settled in the East Bay, from Richmond to Oakland, prior to World War II.

In 2006 the city celebrated its centennial, this coincided with the repaving and streetscaping project of Macdonald Avenue. The city's old rundown commercial district along Macdonald has been designated the city's "Main Street District" by the state of California, this has led to funding of improvements in the form of state grants.[31]

Richmond, like much of the coastal East Bay, enjoys a very mild Mediterranean climate year round, the climate is slightly warmer than the coastal areas of San Francisco, the Peninsula, and Marin County; it is however more temperate than areas further inland. The average highs range from 57 to 73 °F (14 to 23 °C) and the lows between 43 to 56 °F (6 to 13 °C) year round.[34] Richmond usually enjoys an "Indian summer", and September is, on average, the warmest month. January is on average the coldest month.

The highest recorded temperature in Richmond was 107 °F (42 °C) in September 1971 while the coldest was 24 °F (−4 °C) in January 1990.[34]

The rainy season begins in late October and ends in April with some showers in May. Most of the rain occurs during stronger storms which occur between November and March and drop 3.3–4.91 inches (84–125 mm) of rain per month. January and February are the rainiest months.[34]

Like most of the Bay Area, Richmond is made up of several microclimates. Southern parts of the city and the ridges receive more fog than northern areas. Summer temperatures are higher in inland areas, where the moderating influence of San Francisco Bay is lessened, the average wind speed is 6–9 miles per hour (10–14 km/h) with stronger winds from March through August; the strongest winds are in June.[32] The city also enjoys more than 80% sunshine seven months out of the year and 10 with 60% or more. December and January are the darkest months with about 45% average brightness,[32] the city experiences virtually no snowfall, and brief hail annually. The city is very humid in the morning with the lowest humidity being in the high 70% range, this may be due to San Francisco Bay's notorious fog and also the fact that a majority of Richmond lies on a flat coastal plain predominantly consisting of reclaimed tidal marshes, inter-tidal flats, and seep.[35] Morning humidity is 75% to 92% year round; afternoon humidity is more variable. This percentage is in the high 20s to mid 30s (%) May through October (the summer months) and climbs or descends through 40% to 70% during the winter.[32]

After a baby grey whale was beached on the Point Richmond shore in May 2007, its rotting corpse became bothersome to neighbors, it took a while to remove it since various agencies argued over which would have to pay for it.[40][41][42][43]

Richmond is also home to one of the last pristine moist grassland habitats in the entire Bay Area at the former Campus BayUC Berkeley Field Station near Meeker Slough.[44] Richmond residents, however, have limited access to other environmental benefits, because of the refineries located in Richmond, air quality is particularly low, and residents are especially at risk of air-pollution-related health issues.[45]

In 2006 the city was sued by an environmental group for dumping raw sewage into the Bay. Councilmember Tom Butt was very vocal on the subject accusing the city council of turning a blind eye to the problem.[46]

Mayor McLaughlin has set a goal of installing five megawatts of solar photovoltaic generation in Richmond.[47]

The city has in the past suffered from a high crime rate; at one point, the city council requested a declaration of a state of emergency and asked for the intervention of the Contra Costa County Sheriff and the California Highway Patrol.[48] Murder, vehicle theft, and larceny rates remain high, although they tend to be concentrated in the Iron Triangle and adjacent unincorporated North Richmond, which is outside the jurisdiction of the Richmond Police Department.

Despite the city making extreme headway in crime reduction and prevention, Richmond received widespread attention in 2009 when a girl was gang raped at a homecoming dance at Richmond High School.

In 2007, Richmond opened a program to prevent gun violence, the Office of Neighborhood Safety,[49] the program collects information and analyzes public records to determine "the 50 people in Richmond most likely to shoot someone and to be shot themselves." It then offers selected individuals "a spot in a program that includes a stipend to turn their lives around".[50] "Over an 18-month period, if the men demonstrate better behavior, ONS offers them up to $1,000 a month in cash, plus opportunities to travel beyond Richmond."[51]

In 2004, Richmond was ranked the 12th most dangerous city in America,[52] those rankings have changed, and Richmond is no longer ranked as a "most dangerous" city, in either California or the United States. This is in large part due to the efforts of Police Chief Chris Magnus, who established "community policing", which involves police officers engaging with affected high crime communities.[53]

Map showing the Hayward fault running through the eastern Richmond hills and the hilltop area through to San Pablo Bay

Richmond lies in the volatile California region that has a potential for devastating earthquakes. Many buildings were damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the city has also had at least one minor tornado. The Chevron Richmond Refinery often releases gases and had many highly noted chemical leaks in the 1990s, the company has been fined thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. The chemicals most often released are chlorine and sulfur trioxide;[54] in a July 26, 1993, industrial accident, a General Chemical company rail tanker car containing oleum overheated and exploded in the General Chemical railyard. This resulted in a 17-mile (27 km) area contaminated with the poisonous gas, and led to 25,000 people landing in the hospital. The incident led to lawsuits, and has been referred to as a mini-Bhopal.[55]

A beach closed due to oil contamination along the shoreline at Marina Bay.

The city's shoreline and wildlife were seriously affected by the 2007 San Francisco Bay oil spill. Beaches and shoreline were closed, but later reopened.[56] Keller Beach was closed to public access for swimmers.

On April 15, 2010, a sinkhole (roughly 30 feet (9.1 m) deep) appeared at the intersection of El Portal Drive and Via Verdi. Although no one was hurt, a car fell into the sinkhole.[57]

The census reported that 102,118 people (98.5% of the population) lived in households, 670 (0.6%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 913 (0.9%) were institutionalized.

There were 36,093 households, out of which 13,487 (37.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 14,502 (40.2%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 6,931 (19.2%) had a female householder with no husband present, 2,585 (7.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2,538 (7.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 427 (1.2%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 9,546 households (26.4%) were made up of individuals and 2,707 (7.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83. There were 24,018 families (66.5% of all households); the average family size was 3.43.

The age distribution of the population shows 25,800 people (24.9%) under the age of 18, 10,364 people (10.0%) aged 18 to 24, 30,846 people (29.7%) aged 25 to 44, 26,109 people (25.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 10,582 people (10.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.0 males.

There were 39,328 housing units at an average density of 749.4 per square mile (289.3/km2), of which 18,659 (51.7%) were owner-occupied, and 17,434 (48.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.1%. 52,683 people (50.8% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 49,435 people (47.7%) lived in rented housing.

The African-American population in Richmond was 22% African-American as of 2015, while it was 44% African-American in 1990.[62]

As of the census[64] of 2000, there were 99,216 people, 34,625 households, and 23,025 families in the city, the population density was 3,309.5 inhabitants per square mile (1,277.8/km2). There were 36,044 housing units at an average density of 1,202.3 per square mile (464.2/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 36.06% black or African American, 21.36% white, 0.64% Native American, 12.29% Asian, 0.50% Pacific Islander, 13.86% from other races, and 5.27% from two or more races. 26.53% of the population were Hispanic or Latino, of any race.

Of the 34,625 households, 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.5% were married couples living together, 20.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% were non-families. 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.44.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 27.7% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years, for every 100 females, there were 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $44,210, and the median income for a family was $46,659. Males had a median income of $37,389 versus $34,204 for females, the per capita income for the city was $19,788. About 13.4% of families and 16.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.1% of those under age 18 and 11.8% of those age 65 or over.

75.4% of inhabitants over the age of 25 were high school graduates, while 22.4% had bachelor's degrees, and 8.3% had a graduate or professional degree. 7.7% of the population was unemployed and those who were employed took, on average, 34.3 minutes to commute to their place of work.[32]

33.2% of the population aged 15 and over has never married, while 46.3% is currently wed. 11.1% have already divorced, 3.1% is currently separated, and 6.4% has been widowed.[32]

20.6% of the population was born outside the U.S., of which 15.4% were born in Latin America and 8.7% in Asia.[32]

During the day the population shrinks by 6.2% due to commuting while 23.3% of the population works within the city limits. 20.5% of the jobs in the city are in the educational, health, and social service fields, while 10.9% are professional, scientific, management, administrative, and waste disposal, and 10.4% are in retail.[32]

7.0% of Richmonders are veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces compared with 10.9% nationally. 33.2% are foreign born while 12.4% are nationwide. 48.1% of men and 43.2% of women are married conversely 55.9 and 51% of Americans are respectively. Nearly half (46.7%) speak a language other than the English language at home. 65.3% are employed even with the national average. The average household income is US$52,794; $6,552 higher than the national average. The average family makes 57,931 dollars while the average American household makes 55,832 dollars, the per capita income is 22,326 compared with 25,035 federally.[65]

During World War II, Richmond developed rapidly as a heavy industrial town, chiefly devoted to shipbuilding, its major activity now is as a seaport, with 26 million tons of goods shipped through Port Richmond in 1993, mostly oil and petroleum products. Chevron USA has a major oil refinery in the city, with a storage capacity of 15 million barrels (2,400 m3). The Social Security Administration employs over 1,000 at its regional office and program service center in Downtown Richmond. Kaiser Permanente's Richmond Medical Center hospital in the Downtown Richmond is one of the largest employers in the city. Galaxy Desserts is run and operated in the city. Vetrazzo, an award-winning green business that manufactures Recycled Glass Countertops out of waste glass such as beer bottles and old traffic lights, is located in the refurbished Ford Assembly Plant.[68] Treeskunk Productions a video game animation studio is based in the town. Bay View recording studios are located in the city, and have worked with artists such as Smash Mouth. Photon Films, LLC, a video production and editing studio, is located in Harborfront area along the southeast shoreline.

The Macdonald 80 Shopping Center is a commercial plot along the trunk route of Macdonald Avenue which has been designated the city's main street under the aforementioned program, it was once anchored by the now-defunct Montgomery Wards and a Toys"R"Us. Demolition of the former buildings and construction of a new shopping mall were completed in 2006 and the center is now anchored by a Target store.[70]

Country Club Vista is a development surrounding the Richmond Country Club to the south and north, it includes suburban style tract houses with cul-de-sac courts and small yards. Seacliff, at Point Richmond, is a development of luxury waterfront homes built on a terraced hillside. San Marcos is a series of about ten condominium multistory buildings between Hilltop Mall and Country Club Vista. Richmond Transit Village has been constructed in the former west parking lot and an adjacent empty lot of the combined Richmond BART and Amtrak station, the development is part of the city's downtown revitalization efforts.

On September 11, 2013, the seven-member Richmond City Council, in a four-to-three vote, decided to pursue a scheme for using eminent domain to buy out mortgages,[72] the vote was on "[setting] up a Joint Powers Authority to bring more cities into the plan". However, at least five votes would be needed before any mortgage could actually be bought out. North Las Vegas, Nevada[73] and California governments including El Monte[74]Fontana, the city of Ontario and San Bernardino County had considered such plans but decided not to pursue them.[75] The vote made Richmond the first to accept the idea,[74] the plan had been opposed by the vice-mayor and some members of the city council, who said it would "compromise" the city's finances.

Critics of the plan noted that the company Mortgage Resolution Partners stood to potentially profit: it would receive $4500 from the new lenders for each refinanced mortgage for arranging the financing to purchase the original loans and for handling all legal, administrative, and refinancing operations (an amount matching what lenders are compensated for under the Federal HARP loan modification program). Critics also questioned the inclusion of wealthy neighborhoods such as "the area near the Richmond Country Club",[76] the Western Contra Costa Association of Realtors hired a public relations agency and sent mass mailings[73] warning against the scheme; its advertising was "funded, in part, by more than $70,000 from the California Association of Realtors and the National Associations of Realtors."[77]

Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo had sued, claiming the program was unconstitutional.[78] "[T]he National Housing Law Project, Housing and Economic Rights Advocates, Bay Area Legal Aid, the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, and the California Reinvestment Coalition" opposed the suit, calling the banks' request for an injunction against the city "discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act".[79]

Supporters of the plan include the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and Robert Hockett, a professor of law at Cornell University.[80]

Many casinos have been proposed for the West Contra Costa area. Point Molate would have a casino, resort, and a luxury shopping mall. Sugar Bowl Casino proposes a casino, a steakhouse, and a buffet promoted by the Pomo Tribe's Scotts Valley Band near the border between North Richmond and the city of Richmond's Parchester Village, whose residents have lauded it as a boon to fighting crime by adding more of a police presence and creating jobs for shiftless youth, but residents from neighboring newly developed sub-divisions along the Richmond Country Club were fervently opposed based on potential losses to property values.[81] Casino San Pablo has already been built in neighboring San Pablo, with 2,500 slots, the projects have been the subject of much civic debate; supporters contend that the often cash-strapped government would get a major new source of revenue, while opponents air their concerns over the ramifications, including an increase in already high crime rates, lowered property values, and worsening neighborhood quality of life.

Point Molate is currently slated to either become a housing and conference center, a casino resort shopping area, or even a large regional park.[82]

In 2010 the city approved the environmental review of the plan in which the tribe agreed to contain development of the casino to the footprint of the buildings on the former naval depot site,[83] the lobbying and reports required by Richmond have cost the tribe $15,000,000.[83] This approval won over the region's strict environmentalists and many council members.[83] Later that year residents were given the opportunity to weigh in on the issue and voted on the non-binding measure U to determine their approval of the project.[83] 58% of voters opposed the 1 billion-dollar project.[83] Citing the people's opposition and the inability to negotiate several key points with the developer, the city council voted down the project in 2011.[83] Councilman Nat Bates remained a proponent of the plan with its projected 17,000 jobs, while the remainder of the council was chagrined at the fact that there was no guarantee that the jobs would go to Richmonders,[83] the city of San Pablo, whose lifeline is their card club, Casino San Pablo, was elated. The Guideville Band of Pomo Indians was given the opportunity of 150 days to create a non-casino plan for the site such as alternatives in the environmental report for a convention center, conference center, hotel, spa, and housing.[83]

Richmond city government operates under a council-manager system with seven members (including mayor and vice mayor) elected to alternating four-year terms.[84] Politically, the city is a Democratic stronghold. By the early 1990s, not a single Republican remained on the council, the city council has four African Americans, four whites and two Latinos.

The position of Mayor rotated between members of the Richmond City Council until 1981, when the office became an elected position.[85] George D. Carroll, who was voted by the City Council to become Mayor on July 6, 1964, was described at the time as "the first Negro mayor in California and first in America with the exception of small, scattered all-Negro communities in the Deep South,".[86] George Livingston Sr. was the first elected African American mayor. He served from 1985 to 1993. Rosemary Corbin served as the mayor from 1993 to 2001.

Years of political domination by the local firefighters union subsided after a FBI corruption investigation;[87] in the early 2000s Gayle McLaughlin was the first Green elected to the council, with the support of the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), a coalition of liberal Democrats, progressive independents, and Greens. In November 2006, McLaughlin was elected mayor, defeating incumbent first-term Mayor Irma Anderson.

In 2006 the city implemented a computer program that it had ordered from a German firm that provides the city with statistical interactive maps, these maps cover such areas as signage locations, streets, crime hot-spots, and zoning information.[88] In 2007 the city won a contest in which its previously substandard website was upgraded and improved to make it more modern and functional, the prize includes two years of free webmastering.[89]

There has recently been controversy regarding appointments of councilpersons Sandhu and Thurmond who were not elected at-large or were appointed to the ballot on a Yes/No basis.[90]

Recently Mayor McGlaughlin and Councilperson Butt have opposed Chevron's Renewal Project that would replace their 1950's era Hydrogen Manufacturing plant with a newer more efficient plant would increase pollution by using dirtier, thicker, but cheaper crude oil.[91]

The city of Richmond has eight community centers which are located within city parks.[33] Many of the city's community centers were closed in the early 2000s following budget miscalculations and financial difficulties; in the 2006 city elections many candidates ran on platforms promising to reopen these community centers, most of which had been closed due to budget cuts. That election also featured a city sales tax increase, Measure Q, which failed.

The city has eight cannabis dispensaries, and although the city has passed legislation approving them and has legalized their presence, city management does not accept their legality; in fact, the city had sued to close them. It is trying to enforce an injunction that would suspend their operating licenses,[93] although the city council has passed an ordinance permitting the dispensaries, city management refuses to cooperate with the spirit of the law because it has yet to take effect.[93] The question remains whether the clubs will be closed before the law allowing them to open takes effect.[93]

Richmond is served by the Richmond Police Department and Richmond Fire Department. Dozens of parks are run by the Richmond Parks & Recreation Department. The Richmond Civic Center is currently undergoing a seismic upgrade and renovations program, some buildings are being refurbished while other buildings will be replaced.[94]

Current mayor Thomas K. Butt was elected Mayor of Richmond in 2015 with more than 50 percent of the vote. Prior to winning the mayoral election, he served on the Richmond City Council for 20 years (from 1995 to 2015) and served as the city's vice-mayor in 2002 and 2012.

RichmondWorks and Richmond Summer YouthWorks are city programs that aim to decrease unemployment and crime and have led to hundreds receiving employment at area retail businesses.[95]

Fires, medical emergencies and other disasters are handled by the Richmond Fire Department which has seven fire stations in the city. Medical and trauma patients are transported by American Medical Response Paramedics and EMTs.[33]

79.8% of Richmonders have a high school diploma or equivalent, compared with 84.2% nationally. But 27.1% have a bachelor's degree compared with a statistically similar 27.2% nationally.[65]

Since an exit exam requirement was implemented for California high schools, the CAHSEE, some Richmond high school students have been protesting against it, some students sued the district in an attempt to eliminate the requirement. In July 2007, a compromise was reached in which the district would provide two additional years of educational assistance for the purposes of passing the exam, that year, only 28% of Richmond High School students had passed the CAHSEE, a prerequisite for graduating.[97]

All Richmond schools have banned junk food, such as candy, soda, Twinkies, pizza, and other similar items in attempt to curb childhood obesity and change children's eating habits, it has been speculated that this was done preemptively, because some believe the state will soon mandate such restrictions.[98] Despite these efforts, soda consumption in Richmond schools has not diminished.[99] Furthermore, the current 32% of Richmond children who are obese will increase the current 24% adult obesity rate to 42% according to the Contra Costa County Health Services.[99] This led the city council to approve a referendum on a 1 cent per ounce tax on beverages with a high sugar content for the 2012 elections, a first in the nation,[99] the measure was opposed by councilmembers Corky Boozé and Nat Bates, who stated that he knew "many obese people that are perfectly healthy" and that it was "elitist" and "targeted black" people respectively.[99] Members Jovanka Beckles and Jeff Ritterman – the latter a cardiologist – expressed horror at the obesity rate. Beckles chastized the other black members (Bates and Boozé) for not supporting the measure, as she found that the epidemic most affected people of color like themselves,[99] the revenues would have been used to counter obesity through health and fitness campaigns and expenditures.[99] The referendum was defeated by voters in the November 2012 election.

Point Richmond, a neighborhood in Richmond, is known for its small-town appearance. The Point, as it is known by locals, offers owner-operated stores, coffee shops, and historic benches, and streetlights. The Masquers Playhouse is a performing arts center that offers shows and productions year round. Hotel Mac is one of the oldest buildings in the area and has classic early 20th century architecture, like many other buildings in the area. There is also The Plunge, a natatorium which had been closed due to seismic safety issues but was re-opened in August 2010 after the retrofitting was completed, the city expressed a desire to demolish the building at one point, but this was halted by the actions of a neighborhood preservation campaign which continues its mission to "Save the Plunge!".

The Ferry Point Tunnel is one of the oldest tunnels in California. Built in 1899, this structure still gives access to many attractions and neighborhoods in Brickyard Cove, the tunnel goes to the Golden State Railroad Museum, the USS Red Oak Victory, and many beaches and parks, and to Ferry Point where an abandoned ferry-rail pier still stands with a historic ferry slip still standing, though somewhat damaged by fire. It can be viewed from an adjacent fishing pier.

During World War II the city sprawled and its population increased dramatically, this led city leaders to construct the Richmond Civic Center in 1957. This center houses the city hall, a small convention center, library, hall of justice, police headquarters, and arts center.

The Richmond Public Library, the only public library independent of the Contra Costa County Public Libraries system, lies in the heart of the civic center, it houses over 204,686 books, 4,014 audio materials, 5,277 video materials, and 491 serial subscriptions.[32]

The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge extends 5.5 miles (8.9 km) across San Pablo Bay. The bridge is the origin of the term rollercoaster span, due to its curves, bumps, and appearance which have also earned the bridge the nickname of The Rollercoaster Bridge, it was built in 1957, and connects Contra Costa County with Marin County. Automobiles are charged a $5 toll in the westbound (towards Marin) direction only.

The Golden State Railroad Museum is a complex series of model railroad layouts in a museum in the Brickyard Cove area of Point Richmond. A visitor can operate trains of various eras, and there are miniature freight and passenger terminals, trestles, tunnels, and meticulously detailed town and city scenes, many of which are copied from real life scenes of the 1950s.

The Santa Fe Railroad Terminal operated as the western terminus for the railroad from the late 19th century to the late 20th century, it has now been transformed into a museum to exemplify the feel of the terminal in that era.

Point Richmond is one of the city's widely known neighborhoods; Richmond Chevron Refinery and the marshlands in the background.

Keller Beach is one of the city's beaches, located at Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline, a park in Brickyard Cove, it offers picnicking, sunbathing, wading, and swimming. The beach is overlooked by vehicles exiting the Brickyard Cove drive, Ferry Point tunnel and houses on the steep cliffs above, the beach, as with most of the cove, offers spectacular panoramic bay views of the Oakland hills, bridges, the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate.

Point Molate Beach Park is a park on the western coast of Richmond along Western Drive, it was originally a Chinese shrimp camp in the 1870s.

East Brother Light Station on East Brother Island (one of the Brother Islands) is host to an exclusive bed and breakfast, it is only accessible by private boat. Visitors come and stay for the day and picnic for free or they may pay for a room.

The city is also home to a radio controlled model airplane airport, Breuner Airfield that is located in Breuner Marsh a contested piece of land and near Point Pinole Regional Park in the Parchester Village neighborhood.

The Richmond Art Center, founded by Hazel Salmi in 1936, is one of the oldest continually operating non-profit art centers on the entire West Coast of the United States, its programming includes exhibitions, adult and youth education, and community initiatives. The Center currently (as of 2005) provides some of the only arts education programming in the Richmond City School District, relying primarily on public donations and private grants as its means of support.

There is also the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, Hilltop Multiplex, or Masquers Theaters in Point Richmond.

Richmond is home to the National Institute of Art and Disabilities Art Center, also known locally as the NIAD Art Center. NIAD is a non-profit organization hosting over sixty client artists weekly. NIAD's client artist's work can be seen at NIAD's on-site gallery, the Florence Ludins-Katz Gallery. NIAD has a gift shop.

The Richmond Art Center is a contemporary visual arts center, with a gallery and art classes in the heart of Richmond. A showcase for emerging and established artists, the Richmond Art Center hosts the annual "The Art of Living Black", art show which is a showcase of the artwork of Bay Area Black Artists. "Featuring over 50 local artists, the works include fine arts and crafts, paintings, sculpture, photography, prints, masks, stained glass, quilts, textile art, ceramics, jewelry and dolls."[101] The beauty, the pain, the power and the eye of these black artists touch the soul deeply. Founded in 1936 by local artist Hazel Salmi, the Richmond Art Center is a Bay Area cultural institution.

In addition, East Bay Center for the Performing Arts has maintained its roots in the Richmond community since 1968. The Center engages youth and young adults in imagining and creating new worlds for themselves and new visions for their communities through the inspiration and discipline of rigorous training in world performance traditions.

The Hyphy subculture and subgenre of rap music originated in Richmond and surrounding cities.[102]

There are dozens of gathering places for various religions in the city, and some which are not represented in the city can be found nearby. Christian denominational churches include the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses; Word of Faith church; St. Peters C.M.E.; Kingdom Land Baptist Church; Grace Baptist Church; Grace Lutheran Church; Temple Baptist Church; Unity Church of Richmond; Holy Trinity Episcopal Church; First Mexican Baptist Church; Holy Mission Christian Center; St. David Catholic Church, Greater New Bethel Apostolic Ministries, formerly New Bethel Church of God in Christ, founded by Bishop A.D. Bradley in 1945; Faith Temple C.O.G.I.C., and Faith Tabernacle A.O.H. Church Of God; and the Largest Church in Richmond, Hilltop Community Church which is Assemblies of God. There is also a large Laotian Buddhist temple that serves as a community center for the Lao community of the East Bay. There is a synagogue in the Hilltop Green District.[103]

The city has 292.6 acres (1.2 km2) of parkland, that is 1.5% of the city's land territory. A new national park, Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park is now under construction in the former Kaiser shipyards and other wartime industrial sites in Richmond. The park is a memorial to the six million women who labored on the home front, symbolized by the mythical figure "Rosie the Riveter". Richmond was selected for the park because it has many intact buildings that were constructed for 56 wartime industries, its four shipyards produced an amazing 747 large ships and set production records. The home front changed Richmond from a predominantly rural community of 23,600 residents to a diverse population of over 100,000 people within a year. Industries operated around the clock and public housing, schools, day care centers, health care and merchants mobilized to support the new workforce that arrived on the city's doorstep. Fortunately, Richmond's turbulent and productive home front years were well chronicled and photographed, the National Park Service provides interpretive services and operates a Visitor Center in the craneway of the Ford Assembly Building.

Richmond also has number of local parks and two large regional parks are under the authority of the East Bay Regional Parks District, a consortium of most of the Parks and Recreation lands and facilities of Alameda and Contra Costa County.

Wildcat Canyon Regional Park is the city's largest park at 2,428 acres (10 km2). The park once housed a dance hall and roller rink and has distinctive stonework throughout, which was the rationale for its placement on the National Register of Historic Places,[104] it features San Pablo Creek, trails, forests, horseback riding, picnic areas, and a play structure for children, as well as horses for rent and mountain biking trails. High school students practice cross-country in the park, it is situated in the eastern Richmond hills and stretches into Berkeley's Tilden Regional Park in Alameda County. The park has diverse animal and plant life including great horned owls, opossums, king snakes, rubber boas, turkey vultures and many others.

The Richmond Greenway is a project costing millions of dollars to transform an old rail line into a walking, jogging, and biking trail, it will span east to west from the end of the Ohlone Trail that follows the BART line from El Cerrito to Berkeley. It will also follow the BART line to Richmond station and continue to Point Richmond. Pedestrian bridges will be used to cross major avenues such as San Pablo Avenue and 23rd Street. An additional side project will add a bike lane/bike trail between the Richmond Greenway and the Ohlone trail at Potrero Avenue via 23rd Street, Carlson Boulevard, Cutting Boulevard, and Potrero, it is currently under construction.

Richmond is home to four marinas: the Brickyard Cove Yacht Club, Point San Pablo Yacht Club, Marina Bay Marina, and Channel Marina in the Santa Fe channel; in addition, Richmond has the "Richmond Plunge", a municipal natatorium dating back to 1926 and which reopened August 14, 2010. The pool is located in the Point Richmond neighborhood.

The city has annual Juneteenth and Cinco de Mayo celebrations,[106] the Cinco de Mayo celebrations sponsored by the 23rd Street Merchant's Association attracts thousands and closes the entire length of the roadway.[106] The Richmond Police Department, Fire Brigade, United States Marine Corps and other organizations participate in the parade,[106] this is in addition to a fireworks show at Marina Bay celebrating the 4 July and a Silly Parade, an event where people march down the street and generally act "weird" and silly.[107] The city also participates in various Earth Day activities,[108] the city hosts an annual and a physical activity and nutrition forum to discuss health in the community, it has been running since 2006.[109] In 2010 the city began celebrating the Richmond Native American Pow-Wow in Nicholl Park, in 2012 this included area politicians and members of over 50 tribes from throughout the country.[110]

There are two African American weekly newspapers, one general interest online publication, and one multimedia news project that cover Richmond exclusively, the Richmond Post and Richmond Globe publish print and online editions. RichmondConfidential.org, which is run by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, is a general interest online-only news publication serving the city of Richmond. Richmond Pulse is a youth-led print and online publication which focuses on community health, the West County Times, run by Media News Group, covers greater Contra Costa County.

The Port of Richmond, located in along the city's southern coast beside the Richmond Inner Harbor, handles the third-largest shipping tonnage in California annually,[112] a total of 19 million short tons, it ranks number one for ports of the San Francisco Bay for vehicles and liquid bulk.[112] In addition to these commodities, the port can also handle dry-bulk, break-bulk, and containers. Seven of the terminals are city-owned, in addition to five dry docks, while there are 11 privately owned terminals, the port is served by a rail network operated by four major rail companies.[16]

Interstate 80 cuts through the eastern and northeastern portions of the city, through a mostly residential area, connecting to Pinole, Hercules and then on to Vallejo via the Carquinez Bridge in the eastbound direction, and through, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville and eventually terminating in San Francisco via the Bay Bridge in the westbound direction. The weekday westbound morning commute on I-80 through Richmond lies within the most congested stretch of freeway in the Bay Area, according to Caltrans, and has been ranked as such since 2001.[113]

The Richmond Parkway, built in the between the early 1990s and early 2000s connects I-580 in the Point Richmond area in the southwest to the Hilltop Area and I-80, it runs along the city's heavily industrial western side and through unincorporated area of North Richmond. It has been proposed that it be upgraded to a state highway and be redesignated: State Route 93 and transferred to the authority of Caltrans.

Macdonald Avenue is the "mainstreet" of Richmond, running east-west from Atchison Village through downtown to San Pablo Avenue in the North & East neighborhood. In 2010 it was repaved and refitted with new lampposts, street furniture, business façades, landscaping and trees.

Cutting Boulevard parallels Macdonald Avenue to the south, traveling from Point Richmond to Arlington Ave. near the top of the hills. It is a busy commercial and commute route; in 1990, a major improvement program was designed by the city also involving Knox Freeway. It is named after the founder of the Port of Richmond, Henry Cutting.

23rd Street runs through the heart of the city north-south from where it turns to Marina Bay Parkway at I-580 through this heavily Latino business district and neighborhood to San Pablo Avenue in the city of San Pablo.

Barrett Avenue parallels Macdonald Ave two blocks north; it is slightly less traveled and has less activity than Macdonald.

Marina Bay Parkway serves as a link between I-580 and the Marina Bay neighborhood, it turns into 23rd street after crossing 580.

Marina Way and Harbour Way/Harbour Way South (formerly 14th Street and 10th Street respectively) run north-south.

Giant Highway, named for the former Giant Powder Company, runs in the northern part of town between San Pablo Avenue and the Leroy Heights neighborhood.

Hilltop Drive is a trunk street which runs from Richmond Parkway, crosses San Pablo Avenue, passes Hilltop Mall and continues over Interstate 80 into the neighboring city of El Sobrante.

Carlson Boulevard (formerly Pullman Avenue) is the primary access from Downtown Richmond to the Richmond Annex neighborhood, starting from 23rd Street and terminating at San Pablo Avenue just north of the Alameda-Contra Costa county boundary, feeding into the El Cerrito Plaza shopping center.

The second Amtrak line, the Capitol Corridor runs from San Jose to the state capitol, Sacramento, through Richmond, Fairfield, and Davis; some trains continue to the northern Sacramento suburb of Auburn. This route is the third most heavily used Amtrak line in the United States.[114]

AC Transit provides 14 bus lines in the city including local service throughout the city including BRT line 72R along San Pablo Avenue, "Transbay" commuter service across the Bay Bridge to the San Francisco Transbay Terminal and also owl "All-Nighter" service along the BART line. The lines are: 7, 29, 70, 71, 72, 72M, 72R, 74, 76, 376, 800, H, L, LC, LA. There is also local service provided by the Richmond Circular Shuttle in addition to the Point Pinole Shuttle and Kaiser Shuttle.

In June 2007, after engaging with the community for feedback with public hearings, AC Transit implemented the West Contra Costa County Service Plan which realigned existing service finds to reroute portions of certain lines, eliminate service to areas with low ridership, and replace service in some areas with service from a different route providing direct service to areas previously requiring tedious transfers. Furthermore, a great effort was made to provide a better transfer at Richmond Station as well as the Richmond Parkway Transit Center. The changes are covered by Phase I and use no new monies which would be required to completely implement the plan: Phase II. Phase II will use Regional Measure J funds to expands service providing lines along corridors which are undeserved or not served, and increasing hours and decreasing headways. Two of the greatest changes will be extending BRT service to Richmond Parkway Transit Center and providing service along the Ohio Avenue corridor, these changes have effected the northern neighborhoods of the city and the adjacent communities of El Sobrante and San Pablo the most. Phase I was originally supposed to be implemented in late 2006, but the implementation has been delayed until June 2007. Phase II has a target date of mid-2008.[116][117][118][119]

WestCat provides similar feeder service from other West County cities like Pinole and Hercules; in addition to service in northern Richmond's Hilltop neighborhood. Lines running through Richmond are: 16, 17, 18, 19, 30Z, C³, J, JX, JPX[120] Carlson Boulevard is the primary access from Downtown Richmond to the Richmond Annex neighborhood, starting from 23rd street and terminating at San Pablo Avenue just north of the Alameda-Contra Costa county boundary, feeding into the El Cerrito Plaza shopping center.

Bear Transit provides commuter and student service from El Cerrito BART and UC Berkeley to the UC Field Station in Campus Bay on route RFS.[121]

The Richmond Pacific Railroad (RPRC) is a class III shortline railroad operating on 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of track, providing switching services at Richmond's wharves. The RPRC is owned by the Levin-Richmond Terminal Corporation and was formerly known as the Parr Terminal Railroad (PRT).

Richmond had commuter ferry service from the Richmond Ferry Terminal to the San Francisco Ferry Building on weekdays and Fisherman's Wharf on weekends in addition to special GiantsBallpark service during the baseball season. The voyage took approximately 45 minutes one-way, the service began in 1999, but was discontinued in the late 2000s in the economic downturn following the dot-com bust. Ferry ridership plummeted and the service became economically unsustainable, which led Red and White Fleet to discontinue the service, the Richmond ferry terminal is at Ford Point located adjacent to the historic Ford Plant in Marina Bay which is now open as an industrial park and under renovation. The terminal had its own dedicated AC Transit feeder service from Point Richmond and downtown Richmond with route 374 also now discontinued.[122][123][124] A new ferry service from Richmond is planned for 2018 by the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority. The new ferry will take only half an hour to San Francisco and will use the existing terminal and parking facilities at Ford Point in Marina Bay.[125] Recently most of the city council except Tom Butt and Mayor McLaughlin have lost interest in the project instead supporting using the site for expanded Toyota vehicle importation parking which that company has expressed an interest in.[126]

The Richmond Fire Department is the fire and rescue service for Richmond, and by contract with Contra Costa County it also serves East Richmond Heights, and North Richmond.[128] The Richmond Police Department is headquartered at the Richmond Civic Center; the headquarters building was recently renovated and is LEED certified.[129] Richmond's waste disposal and recycling is handled by the Richmond Sanitary Service. Water is provided by the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), while sewers are operated by the city government, the city's electricity and gas is provided by the Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E).

Richmond has many distinct neighborhoods, the city can roughly be divided into the northern Hilltop/El Sobrante, eastern Central/East Richmond, downtown/Iron Triangle and Southern Point Richmond/Marina Bay areas.

Tales from the Iron Triangle: Boyhood Days in the Bay Area of the 1920s (Hardcover), by James Polese, Ocean Tree Books; 1st ed. edition (September 1994).

To Place Our Deeds: The African American Community in Richmond, California, 1910–1963 (Paperback) by Shirley Ann Wilson Moore, University of California Press; 1 edition (February 5, 2001).

Gypsies: The Hidden Americans (Paperback) by Anne Sutherland, 1975; Re-issued 1986 by Waveland Press, Inc. This book is an anthropological study of a group of American Rom (Gypsies) living in Richmond (Barvale), California, it is based on fieldwork done during 1968–70. In this book, Richmond was given the pseudonym of "Barvale" in order to protect the anonymity of the subjects.[citation needed][original research?]

The basketball movie, Coach Carter although filmed across the bay in San Francisco was based on the story of the Richmond High School Basketball team being benched for poor grades despite an undefeated season.

1.
Richmond District, San Francisco
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The Richmond District is a neighborhood in the northwest corner of San Francisco, California, developed initially in the late 19th century. It is sometimes confused with Richmond, a city 20 miles northeast of San Francisco and it is thus known as a safe, peaceful, serene, family neighborhood, and one of the citys largest as a whole, both in terms of housing stock and population. The Richmond also has deep Irish and Russian roots and has many Catholic, in 1917, the district was legally named Park-Presidio District, chosen to avoid confusion between the district and the city of Richmond right across the bay. In spite of the change, virtually every San Franciscan continued to use the old name. The district, originally an expanse of rolling sand dunes, was developed initially in the late 19th century, before this development, the Yelamu Tribe of the Ohlone Nation frequented the coastal sites of the current day district and had a village where the development would take place. In the later 18th century, they were not able to use this land anymore after Spanish explorers arrived, Adolph Sutro was one of the first large-scale developers of the area. After purchasing the Cliff House in the early 1880s, he built the Sutro Baths on the end of the district. After the 1906 earthquake, development increased with the need to provide replacement housing, the last of the sand dunes and coastal scrub that once dominated the area were built over to create a street car suburb. The Russian Revolution and subsequent civil war brought many Anti-Communist White Russian, Orthodox Russian refugees, Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia briefly made its headquarters at Holy Virgin Cathedral on Geary Boulevard. Chinese of birth or descent now make up nearly the half of residents in the Richmond, the western portion Outer Richmond and the eastern portion Inner Richmond is divided by a major thoroughfare, Park Presidio Boulevard. Geary Boulevard is a major east-west thoroughfare that runs through the Richmond, technically, the Farallon Islands, about 30 miles to the west of mainland San Francisco, are also part of the Richmond District. The Richmond has been divided into four parts, Lake Street is just south of Presidio of San Francisco. It is an affluent area characterized by its many Victorian/Edwardian mansions and its boundaries are, the Presidio to the north, Arguello Blvd to the east, California St. to the south, and 25th Ave. to the west. Its name is derived from the neighborhoods northernmost east-west artery, the Inner Richmond sits south of Lake Street. Its boundaries are, California St. to the north, Arguello Blvd to the east, Fulton St. to the south, and Park Presidio Blvd. to the west. The hub of northern Inner Richmond is Geary Blvd. and Clement St. which are known for Chinese, Cambodian, Korean, Burmese. The hub of southern Inner Richmond is Balboa St, which is known for Japanese, the Inner Richmond is a diverse area with a sizable Chinese and Russian population. The Central Richmond is between Inner Richmond and Outer Richmond and it is bounded by Park Presidio Blvd to the east, California St. to the north, Fulton St. to the south, and 32nd Ave. to the west

2.
City (California)
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California is a state located in the Western United States. It is the most populous state and the third largest by area after Alaska, according to the 2010 United States Census, California has 37,253,956 inhabitants and 155,779.22 square miles of land. California has been inhabited by numerous Native American peoples since antiquity, after the Mexican Cession of 1848, the California Gold Rush brought worldwide attention to the area. California is divided into 58 counties and contains 482 municipalities, one, San Francisco, is a consolidated city–county. California law makes no distinction between city and town, and municipalities may use either term in their official names. According to the 2010 Census,30,908,614 of Californias 37,253,956 residents lived in urban areas, the first municipality to incorporate was Sacramento on February 27,1850, while the most recent was Jurupa Valley on July 1,2011. Eight cities were incorporated before the states September 9,1850, the largest municipality by population and land area is Los Angeles with 3,792,621 residents and 468.67 square miles. The smallest by population is Vernon with 112 people, while the smallest by area is Amador City at 0.31 square miles

3.
Point Richmond, Richmond, California
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Its compact size and many historic buildings give it a quaint small town feel that has also been described as highbrow. Since then, its trademark mom-and-pop shops have survived, the Point Richmond Historic District has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978. Long distance freight trains are put together in this yard, largely consisting of container cars, the 24-hour operations of the switch engines are a constant feature of life in the Point. The wig wag signals, while no longer operating, are one of only a still in existence nationwide. The neighborhood is divided by a ridge, which separates it into a Bay side, many houses, which include historic Victorians, offer a view of the bay. Many of the businesses are housed in century-old buildings dating back to before the founding or incorporation of the town. Partnerships of which prominent locals Josh Genser and Tom Butt are principals are the largest property owners in the area, the Plunge is a local landmark swim center, reopened in August 2010 after a seismic upgrade and remodeling. The nearby hill is Nicholl Knob, which is part of the Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline, in the historic downtown section there is the Point Richmond History Association museum, a small museum of photos and artifacts that are dedicated to local history. There is a tunnel through this hill named the Ferry Point tunnel, part of the area on the bay side of the tunnel is known as Brickyard Cove owing to the brickyard which used to operate in the area. Point Richmond is home to Keller Beach, one of the publicly accessible beaches in Richmond. Across from the area is the Golden State Model Railroad Museum. Continuing along the road is Brickyard Cove a housing development in the area of a former brickyard, nearby, at the end of Dornan Drive is the S. S. Further along lies Brickyard Cove and the Richmond Yacht Club, one of many marinas in the city, there are condominiums and brand new luxury tract homes terraced into the hills as well as homes built over the water on piles along two spits. Point Richmonds shoreline was the location of a 20-foot beached grey whale calf in May 2007, after a delay in obtaining permits and disputes over who would pay, the carcass was towed out to sea. It is served by AC Transit line 72M, which terminates in Point Richmond, there was previously shuttle service on line 374 to the Richmond Ferry Terminal until it ceased operations in 2001. There was controversy in 2002 over a proposed and eventually built Starbucks coffeehouse in the neighborhood, some residents feared that the opening of a corporate chain store would dampen a much loved way of life and cherished independent mom and pop commercial sector. Nevertheless, an Extreme Pizza also operates in the commercial strip, there was considerable neighborhood opposition to the relocation of the Point Richmond library in 2007 when it was to be remodeled and reopened. Instead, the planning commission wanted to tear it down

4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation

5.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci

6.
U.S. state
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A U. S. state is a constituent political entity of the United States of America. There are 50 states, which are together in a union with each other. Each state holds administrative jurisdiction over a geographic territory. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders. States range in population from just under 600,000 to over 39 million, four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names. States are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned some local authority but are not sovereign. County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state, State governments are allocated power by the people through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in principles, and each provides for a government. States possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution, Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a debate over states rights, which concerns the extent and nature of the states powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government. States and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a legislature consisting of the Senate. Each state is represented in the Senate by two senators, and is guaranteed at least one Representative in the House, members of the House are elected from single-member districts. Representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census, the Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50, alaska and Hawaii are the most recent states admitted, both in 1959. The Constitution is silent on the question of states have the power to secede from the Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U. S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, as a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance

7.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565

8.
Contra Costa County, California
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Contra Costa County is a county in the state of California in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,049,025, the name is Spanish for opposite coast, referring to its position on the other side of the bay from San Francisco. Contra Costa County is included in the San Francisco–Oakland–Hayward, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area and it occupies the northern portion of the East Bay region and is primarily suburban. In the northern part of the county, significant coal and sand deposits were formed in even earlier geologic eras, other areas of the county have ridges exposing ancient but intact seashells, embedded in sandstone layers alternating with limestone. Layers of volcanic ash ejected from geologically recent but now extinct volcanoes, compacted and now tilted by compressive forces, may be seen at the site of some road excavations. This county is an agglomeration of several distinct geologic terranes, as is most of the greater San Francisco Bay Area, younger deposits at middle altitudes include pillow lavas, the product of undersea volcanic eruptions. There is an extensive but little recorded human history pre-European settlement in this area, the earliest definitively established occupation by modern man appears to have occurred six to ten thousand years ago. However, there may have been human presence far earlier, at least as far as non–settling populations are concerned, extensive trading from tribe to tribe transferred exotic materials such as obsidian throughout the region from far distant Californian tribes. Unlike the nomadic Native American of the Great Plains it appears that these tribes did not incorporate warfare into their culture but were generally cooperative. Within these cultures the concept of individual or collective land ownership was nonexistent, early European settlers in the region, however, did not record much about the culture of the natives. Most of what is known comes from preserved contemporaneous and excavated artifacts. Although there were no missions established within this county, Spanish influence here was direct and extensive, in 1821 Mexico gained independence from Spain. Mission lands extended throughout the Bay Area, including portions of Contra Costa County, between 1836 and 1846, during the era when California was a province of independent Mexico, the following 15 land grants were made in Contra Costa County. Rough surveying was based on a map, or diseño, measured by streams, shorelines, and/or horseman who marked it with rope, lands outside rancho grants were designated el sobrante, as in surplus or excess, and considered common lands. The law required the construction of a house within a year, fences were not required and were forbidden where they might interfere with roads or trails. Locally a large family required roughly 2000 head of cattle and two leagues of land to live comfortably. Foreign entrepreneurs came to the area to provide goods that Mexico couldn’t, Rancho Canada de los Vaqueros was granted to Francisco Alviso, Antonio Higuera, and Manuel Miranda. Two ranchos, both called Rancho San Ramon, were granted by the Mexican government in the San Ramon Valley, in 1833, Bartolome Pacheco and Mariano Castro shared the two square league Rancho San Ramon

9.
Municipal corporation
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A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which they are located, often, this event is marked by the award or declaration of a municipal charter. A city charter or town charter is a document establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages and is considered to be a version of a constitution. Traditionally the granting of a charter gave a settlement and its inhabitants the right to town privileges under the feudal system, townspeople who lived in chartered towns were burghers, as opposed to serfs who lived in villages. Towns were often free, in the sense that they were protected by the king or emperor. Today the process for granting charters is determined by the type of government of the state in question, in monarchies, charters are still often a royal charter given by the Crown or the state authorities acting on behalf of the Crown. In federations, the granting of charters may be within the jurisdiction of the level of government such as a state or province. In Brazil, municipal corporations are called municípios and are created by means of legislation at the state level. All municipal corporations must also abide by a municipal law which is passed and amended at the municipal level. In Canada charters are granted by provincial authorities, in Germany, municipal corporations existed since antiquity and through medieval times, until they became out of favour during the absolutism. In order to strengthen the spirit, the city law of Prussia dated 19 November 1808 picked up this concept. It is the basis of municipal law. In India, a Municipal Corporation is a local government body. This standard varies from state to state, according to laws passed by state legislatures, the Corporation of Chennai was the first Municipal Corporation in India. It was established on 29 September 1688 by the British East India Company, the second was Hyderabad Municipal Corporation established in 1869 by the Nizam rulers of Hyderabad State. The third was the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, established in 1876, the Bombay Municipal Corporation was established in 1888 by the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act. The Delhi Municipal Council was established in 1911 during the Delhi Durbar when New Delhi was proclaimed to be the new Capital of India and it was elevated to Municipal Corporation level on 7 April 1958 by an Act of Parliament which established the Municipal Corporation of Delhi

10.
City council
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A city council, town council, town board, or board of aldermen is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area. Because of the differences in legislation between the states, the definition of a City Council varies. However, it is only those local government areas which have been specifically granted city status that are entitled to refer to themselves as cities. The official title is Corporation of the City of ------ or similar, some of the larger urban areas of Australia are governed mostly by a single entity, while others may be controlled by a multitude of much smaller city councils. Also some significant urban areas can be under the jurisdiction of rural local governments. Periodic re-alignments of boundaries attempt to rationalize these situations and adjust the deployment of assets, the 2001 Local Government Act restyled the five county boroughs of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford, and Limerick as city councils, with the same status in law as county councils. For many decades until the government reforms of 1989, a borough with more than 20,000 people could be proclaimed a city. The boundaries of councils tended to follow the edge of the built-up area, as a result, the term city began to take on two meanings. The word city came to be used in a formal sense to describe major urban areas independent of local body boundaries. This informal usage is jealously guarded, gisborne, for example, adamantly described itself as the first city in the world to see the new millennium. Gisborne is administered by a council, but its status as a city is not generally disputed. Under the current law the minimum population for a new city is 50,000, in the Republic of China, a city council represents a provincial city. Members of the councils are elected through local elections for provincial cities which are held every 4–5 years, Councils for the provincial cities in Taiwan are Chiayi City Council, Hsinchu City Council and Keelung City Council. In the UK, a city council is, In England, a parish council that has been granted city status. The council of a London borough that has been granted city status, in Wales, The council of a principal area that has been granted city status. A community council that has been granted city status, in Scotland, The council of one of four council areas designated a City by the Local Government etc. City councils and town boards generally consist of elected aldermen or councillors. In the United States, members of city councils are typically called council member or council man/woman, while in Canada they are typically called councillor

11.
California Democratic Party
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The California Democratic Party is the state branch of the United States Democratic Party in the state of California. Headquartered in Sacramento, it is chaired by veteran Democratic politician and former United States Representative John L. Burton and it is the majority party in both chambers of the California State Legislature, i. e. the State Assembly and the Senate. In regards to businesses and economics, the California Democratic party takes a stance that protects consumers, small businesses, unions, the platform also makes a point to champion the economic reforms of President Barack Obama. The 2012 platform addresses the issues of family in several sections, the platform promises to protect seniors, children and all types of families with fair economic and social policies. These policies range from continuing Medicare for the elderly and keeping playgrounds safe for children, the platform also highlights the right of a woman to make choices for her own body and claims that healthcare is a natural right of all people. The California democrats further promise to protect the dignity of disabled citizens, the platform is dedicated to advocating for the rights of women through equal pay and affirmative action. The party prioritizes the creation of a sustainable and earth-friendly state, focus is placed on the development of alternative forms of energy and how energy is consumed. In addition, the stresses that green jobs are a solution to economic. Finally, the platform takes stances on open internet use, immigration, the Democrats of California support the right of the people to express their thoughts and ideas through any media, and their right to assemble. The party believes that laws should be fair and that immigrants should not be discriminated against. The party wishes to bring education to the forefront, aiming to turn California into a state for academic achievement. A Detailed description of the California Democratic Partys position on all of the issues can be found in their 2012 Platform document. The California Democratic Party passes multiple resolutions every year as a way of expressing their opinion to lawmakers statewide, while the partys resolutions have no legal force themselves, they are official documents that elected representatives should take into account when making decisions. A few recent resolutions are summarised below,2012 Buy American This resolution, written 18 November 2012, encourages all arms of government to favor American suppliers of goods and services. The above are three of a long list of Resolutions passed by the California Democratic Party in 2012 and in preceding years. The history of the Democratic Party of California is complex and long, the State has traded hands every few cycles since its admission into the union in 1850. At that time, the state was firmly in the hands of the Democratic Party, until the early 1880s after the Republican Party abolished slavery, the Republicans held the state through the power and influence of railroad men. The Democratic Party responded by taking an anti-corporate, anti freedom of attainment position, in 1894, Democrat James Budd was elected to the governorship, and the Democratic Party attempted to make good on their promises to reform the booming railroad industry

12.
California's 9th State Senate district
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Californias 9th State Senate district is one of 40 California State Senate districts. It is currently represented by Democrat Nancy Skinner of Berkeley, the district encompasses the northern East Bay, stretching along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. It forms the point of the East Bay, centered on Oakland. California State Senate California State Senate districts Districts in California District map from the California Citizens Redistricting Commission

13.
California's 15th State Assembly district
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Californias 15th State Assembly district is one of 80 California State Assembly districts. It is currently represented by Democrat Tony Thurmond of Richmond, the district encompasses the northern coastal East Bay, occupying a narrow strip between the shores of San Francisco and San Pablo Bays and the Berkeley Hills. The district is centered on Berkeley and Richmond, along with a portion of Oakland. California State Assembly California State Assembly districts Districts in California District map from the California Citizens Redistricting Commission

14.
Tony Thurmond
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Tony K. Thurmond is an American politician currently serving in the California State Assembly. A Democrat, he represents the 15th Assembly District, which encompasses the northern East Bay, Thurmond is a member of the California Legislative Latino Caucus, California Legislative Black Caucus, and California Legislative Jewish Caucus. Prior to being elected to the Assembly in 2014, he was a member of the Richmond City Council, a Board Member of the West Contra Costa Unified School District, Thurmond was born in Monterey, California. He lived in San Jose, California, where he was raised by a single mother, tonys mother lost her battle to cancer in 1974, when Tony was 6. After, he moved to Philadelphia, where he was adopted and raised by his cousin and his cousin and step-father were both campus police officers for more than two decades and very active in union life. He is a graduate of Temple University, where he was student body president and he earned dual masters degrees in Law and Social Policy and Social Work from Bryn Mawr College. Thurmond’s first experience in office was as president of the student body at Temple University. Before being elected to the California State Assembly in 2014, Thurmond was a member of the West Contra Costa School Board from 2008 to 2012, Thurmond was the council liaison to the West Contra Costa County Unified School District and the West Contra Costa County Education Fund. He also served as liaison to Richmond’s Youth Commission and Workforce Investment Board. He was a member of the Family and Childrens Trust Committee of Contra Costa County, Thurmond ran first for the District 15 Assembly seat in 2008, coming in second out of four candidates. He ran again in 2014, this time winning 54. 3% of the vote and he was re-elected in 2016 with 89. 4% of the vote. Thurmond is a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus, California Latino Legislative Caucus, and the California Legislative Jewish Caucus. Thurmond’s first bill to be signed into law was AB1375 and this credit had not been adjusted since its inception in 1976, this bill adjusts it for inflation and the minimum wage. Thurmond’s AB1496 requires the California Air Resources Board to measure, AB1343 helps ensure due process for defendants who are immigrants, it was part of a package of legislation focused on protecting undocumented immigrants. AB768 bans use or possession of tobacco products in California’s five professional baseball stadiums. AB 2X-9, the Tobacco-Free Schools Act, co-authored by Thurmond and Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian and this bill also mandates that schools post signs reading “tobacco use is prohibited” at entrances. Tony Thurmond received a score of 100% on both the Equality California and California League of Conservation Voters legislative score cards for 2016, Thurmond has held leadership positions with several nonprofit social service organizations. At the Golden Gate Regional Center, he was a program manager leading service provision to individuals with developmental disabilities, in 2012 he began to serve as the Senior Director of Community and Government Relations at Lincoln Child Center

15.
California's 11th congressional district
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Californias 11th congressional district is a congressional district in the U. S. state of California. Mark DeSaulnier, a Democrat, has represented the district since January 2015, currently, the 11th district consists of portions of Contra Costa County. Cities in the district include Concord, El Cerrito, Orinda, Pittsburg, prior to redistricting by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission of 2011, the 11th district consisted of portions of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, and Santa Clara counties. As of April 2015, there are four members of the U. S. House of Representatives from Californias 11th congressional district that are currently living. The most recent representative to die is William Royer on April 8,2013, the most recently serving representative to die was Tom Lantos on February 11,2008. List of United States congressional districts GovTrack. us, Californias 11th congressional district RAND California Election Returns, District Definitions California Voter Foundation map - CD11

16.
Mark DeSaulnier
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Mark James DeSaulnier /dəˈsoʊnjeɪ/ is an American politician and a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, serving Californias 11th Congressional District since 2015. Previously, he served in the California Legislature representing Californias 7th State Senate district from 2008 to 2015, from 2006 to 2008, DeSaulnier represented Californias 11th State Assembly district. He also served as a Contra Costa County supervisor and on the Concord City Council, DeSaulnier received endorsements from Congresswoman Tauscher and Congressman George Miller for the seat. In the September 1 primary election, DeSaulnier came in second, born in Lowell, Massachusetts, DeSaulnier earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the College of the Holy Cross. He traveled cross-country to California in the early 1970s and eventually settled in Concord, as a young man, DeSaulnier worked as a probation officer, a truck driver and a hotel services employee. DeSaulnier was a member of both the Teamsters International Union and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union and his jobs allowed his early exposure to the challenges of working families and the power of organized labor to create equity among employers and employees. A small businessman, DeSaulnier owned and operated restaurants in the greater Bay Area before taking office in the Legislature in 2006. He is a member of the Concord Chamber of Commerce and the Contra Costa Council, DeSaulnier lives in Concord where he raised his two adult sons, Tristan and Tucker. He is a runner and has completed twenty-one marathons. DeSaulnier was appointed to the Concord Planning Commission in 1988, in 1991, he was elected to the Concord City Council and served as mayor of Concord in 1993. He was also a member of the University of California Toxic Substances Research, DeSaulnier served on the Board of Supervisors until 2006. He was elected in 1994 and re-elected in 1998 and 2002, in June 1998, he received 98.4 percent of the vote against write-in candidates. In March 2002, he retained his seat with 79 percent of the vote against challenger Dione Mustard, although the Board of Supervisors is a non-partisan office, DeSaulnier was active in Republican party affairs during much of his tenure as county supervisor. Many of the candidates that DeSaulnier aided supported the anti-union Proposition 226 on the June 1998 statewide ballot, during DeSaulniers tenure on the Board of Supervisors, he sponsored the Industrial Safety Ordinance and the Refinery Flare Rule for local refineries and chemical facilities. DeSaulnier served on the boards of the Association of Bay Area Governments, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. He was appointed to represent the Bay Area on the California Air Resources Board by the Air District, on a county level, DeSaulnier introduced a Womens Health Program to serve the health-care needs of all women in Contra Costa County. He also established the annual Children and Families Budget, a separate County budget that reviews and his other projects for children include AfterSchool4All, the Future Fund and the Children and Families Committee of the Board of Supervisors. The Contra Costa Times editorial board was critical of DeSaulniers record as county supervisor, an editorial published in 2009 stated, Many of the financial problems that afflict Contra Costa County today stem directly from decisions DeSaulnier championed while he was supervisor

17.
Democratic Party (United States)
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The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The Democrats dominant worldview was once socially conservative and fiscally classical liberalism, while, especially in the rural South, since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social-liberal platform, supporting social justice. Today, the House Democratic caucus is composed mostly of progressives and centrists, the partys philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state. It seeks to provide government intervention and regulation in the economy, the party has united with smaller left-wing regional parties throughout the country, such as the Farmer–Labor Party in Minnesota and the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota. Well into the 20th century, the party had conservative pro-business, the New Deal Coalition of 1932–1964 attracted strong support from voters of recent European extraction—many of whom were Catholics based in the cities. After Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal of the 1930s, the pro-business wing withered outside the South, after the racial turmoil of the 1960s, most southern whites and many northern Catholics moved into the Republican Party at the presidential level. The once-powerful labor union element became smaller and less supportive after the 1970s, white Evangelicals and Southerners became heavily Republican at the state and local level in the 1990s. However, African Americans became a major Democratic element after 1964, after 2000, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian Americans, the LGBT community, single women and professional women moved towards the party as well. The Northeast and the West Coast became Democratic strongholds by 1990 after the Republicans stopped appealing to socially liberal voters there, overall, the Democratic Party has retained a membership lead over its major rival the Republican Party. The most recent was the 44th president Barack Obama, who held the office from 2009 to 2017, in the 115th Congress, following the 2016 elections, Democrats are the opposition party, holding a minority of seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a minority of governorships, and state legislatures, though they do control the mayoralty of cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Washington, D. C. The Democratic Party traces its origins to the inspiration of the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and that party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Organizationally, the modern Democratic Party truly arose in the 1830s, since the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in 1896, the party has generally positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic issues. They have been liberal on civil rights issues since 1948. On foreign policy both parties changed position several times and that party, the Democratic-Republican Party, came to power in the election of 1800. After the War of 1812 the Federalists virtually disappeared and the national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republican party still had its own factions, however. As Norton explains the transformation in 1828, Jacksonians believed the peoples will had finally prevailed, through a lavishly financed coalition of state parties, political leaders, and newspaper editors, a popular movement had elected the president

18.
2010 United States Census
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The 2010 United States Census, is the twenty-third and currently most recent United States national census. National Census Day, the day used for the census, was April 1,2010. As part of a drive to increase the accuracy,635,000 temporary enumerators were hired. The population of the United States was counted as 308,745,538, as required by the United States Constitution, the U. S. census has been conducted every 10 years since 1790. The 2000 U. S. Census was the previous census completed, participation in the U. S. Census is required by law in Title 13 of the United States Code. On January 25,2010, Census Bureau Director Robert Groves personally inaugurated the 2010 Census enumeration by counting World War II veteran Clifton Jackson, more than 120 million census forms were delivered by the U. S. Post Office beginning March 15,2010, the number of forms mailed out or hand-delivered by the Census Bureau was approximately 134 million on April 1,2010. The 2010 Census national mail participation rate was 74%, from April through July 2010, census takers visited households that did not return a form, an operation called non-response follow-up. In December 2010, the Census Bureau delivered population information to the president for apportionment, personally identifiable information will be available in 2082. The Census Bureau did not use a form for the 2010 Census. In several previous censuses, one in six households received this long form, the 2010 Census used only a short form asking ten basic questions, How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1,2010. Were there any additional people staying here on April 1,2010 that you did not include in Question 1, mark all that apply, Is this house, apartment, or mobile home – What is your telephone number. What is Person 1s age and Person 1s date of birth, is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin. Does Person 1 sometimes live or stay somewhere else, the form included space to repeat some or all of these questions for up to twelve residents total. In contrast to the 2000 census, an Internet response option was not offered, detailed socioeconomic information collected during past censuses will continue to be collected through the American Community Survey. The survey provides data about communities in the United States on a 1-year or 3-year cycle, depending on the size of the community, rather than once every 10 years. A small percentage of the population on a basis will receive the survey each year. In June 2009, the U. S. Census Bureau announced that it would count same-sex married couples, however, the final form did not contain a separate same-sex married couple option

19.
Metropolitan area
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As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. The Greater São Paulo is a term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil. A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration with zones not necessarily urban in character and these outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt, and may extend well beyond the urban zone, to other political entities. For example, El Monte, California is considered part of the Los Angeles metro area in the United States, in practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Population figures given for one area can vary by millions. A polycentric metropolitan area is one not connected by continuous development or conurbation, in defining a metropolitan area, it is sufficient that a city or cities form a nucleus that other areas have a high degree of integration with. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines statistical divisions as areas under the influence of one or more major towns or a major city. However, this definition has become obsolete with the conurbation of several statistical divisions into a larger metropolitan areas. In Brazil, metropolitan areas are called metropolitan regions, each State defines its own legislation for the creation, definition and organization of a metropolitan region. The creation of a region is not intended for any statistical purpose, although the Brazilian Institute of Geography. Their main purpose is to allow for a management of public policies of common interest to all cities involved. They dont have political, electoral or jurisdictional power whatsoever, so living in a metropolitan region do not elect representatives for them. Statistics Canada defines a metropolitan area as an area consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a CMA, the area must have a population of at least 100,000. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a degree of integration with the core. As of the Canada 2011 Census, there were 33 CMAs in Canada, including six with a population over one million—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. In Denmark the only area is Greater Copenhagen, consisting of the Capital Region of Denmark along with the neighboring regions Region Zealand. Greater Copenhagen has an population of 1.25 million people

20.
Pacific Time Zone
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The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC−7 and is based on the mean solar time of the 105th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. In the United States and Canada, this zone is generically called the Pacific Time Zone. Specifically, it uses Pacific Standard Time when observing standard time, most of Canada uses daylight saving time. In Mexico, the UTC−8 time zone is known as the Northwest Zone, the largest city in the Pacific Time Zone is Los Angeles, the citys metropolitan area is the largest in the zone. The following states or areas are part of the Pacific Time Zone, California Washington Oregon – all, except for most of Malheur County, nevada Idaho Panhandle – the northern half of Idaho, north of the Salmon River. The town of Hyder, Alaska, is officially in the Alaska Time Zone, however, most of the town observes the Pacific Time because of strong connections with nearby Stewart, British Columbia, which is in the Pacific Time Zone. The United States Post Office in Hyder strictly adheres to Alaska Time, in Canada, the Pacific Time Zone includes most of British Columbia, all of Yukon, and the townsite of Tungsten. In Mexico, the state of Baja California lies completely within the Pacific Time Zone and this does not include the state of Baja California Sur, which is south of Baja California. Through 2006, the time changed to daylight time at 02,00 LST to 03,00 LDT on the first Sunday in April. The Canadian provinces and territories that use daylight time each adopted these dates between October 2005 and February 2007, in Mexico, beginning in 2010, the portion of the country in this time zone uses the extended dates, as do some other parts. The vast majority of Mexico, however, still uses the old dates

21.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year

22.
ZIP Code
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ZIP Codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, was chosen to suggest that the travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly. The basic format consists of five numerical digits, an extended ZIP+4 code, introduced in 1983, includes the five digits of the ZIP Code, a hyphen, and four additional digits that determine a more specific location within a given ZIP Code. The term ZIP Code was originally registered as a servicemark by the U. S. Postal Service, USPS style for ZIP is all caps and the c in code is also capitalized, although style sheets for some publications use sentence case or lowercase. The early history and context of postal codes began with postal district/zone numbers, the United States Post Office Department implemented postal zones for numerous large cities in 1943. For example, Mr. John Smith 3256 Epiphenomenal Avenue Minneapolis 16, by the early 1960s a more organized system was needed, and on July 1,1963, non-mandatory five-digit ZIP Codes were introduced nationwide. Three months later, on October 1,1963, the U. S, an earlier list in June had proposed capitalized abbreviations ranging from two to five letters. The abbreviations have remained unchanged, with one exception, according to the historian of the U. S. Robert Moon, an employee of the post office, is considered the father of the ZIP Code, he submitted his proposal in 1944 while working as a postal inspector. The post office gives credit to Moon only for the first three digits of the ZIP Code, which describe the sectional center facility or sec center, an SCF is a central mail processing facility with those three digits. The SCF sorts mail to all post offices with those first three digits in their ZIP Codes, the mail is sorted according to the final two digits of the ZIP Code and sent to the corresponding post offices in the early morning. Sectional centers do not deliver mail and are not open to the public, Mail picked up at post offices is sent to their own SCF in the afternoon, where the mail is sorted overnight. The United States Post Office used a character, which it called Mr. ZIP. He was often depicted with a such as USE ZIP CODE in the selvage of panes of stamps or on labels contained in, or the covers of. In 1983, the U. S. Postal Service introduced an expanded ZIP Code system that it called ZIP+4, often called plus-four codes, add-on codes, or add ons. But initial attempts to promote use of the new format met with public resistance. For Post Office Boxes, the rule is that each box has its own ZIP+4 code. However, there is no rule, so the ZIP+4 Code must be looked up individually for each box. It is common to use add-on code 9998 for mail addressed to the postmaster,9999 for general delivery, for a unique ZIP Code, the add-on code is typically 0001

23.
North American Numbering Plan
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The North American Numbering Plan is a telephone numbering plan that encompasses 25 distinct regions in twenty countries primarily in North America, including the Caribbean and the U. S. territories. Not all North American countries participate in the NANP, each participating country forms a regulatory authority that has plenary control over local numbering resources. The FCC also serves as the U. S. regulator, Canadian numbering decisions are made by the Canadian Numbering Administration Consortium. The NANP divides the territories of its members into numbering plan areas which are encoded numerically with a telephone number prefix. Each telephone is assigned a telephone number unique only within its respective plan area. The telephone number consists of a central office code and a four-digit station number. The combination of a code and the telephone number serves as a destination routing address in the public switched telephone network. For international call routing, the NANP has been assigned the calling code 1 by the International Telecommunications Union. The North American Numbering Plan conforms with ITU Recommendation E.164, from its beginnings in 1876 and throughout the first part of the 20th century, the Bell System grew from essentially local or regional telephone systems. These systems expanded by growing their subscriber bases, as well as increasing their service areas by implementing additional local exchanges that were interconnected with tie trunks and it was the responsibility of each local administration to design telephone numbering plans that accommodated the local requirements and growth. As a result, the Bell System as a developed into an unorganized system of many differing local numbering systems. The diversity impeded the efficient operation and interconnection of exchanges into a system for long-distance telephone communication. The new numbering plan was accepted in October 1947, dividing most of North America into 86 Numbering Plan Areas. Each NPA was assigned a Numbering Plan Area code, often abbreviated as area code and these codes were first used by long-distance operators to establish long-distance calls between toll offices. The first customer-dialed direct call using area codes was made on November 10,1951, from Englewood, New Jersey, to Alameda, California. Direct distance dialing was introduced across the country and by the early 1960s most areas of the Bell System had been converted and it was commonplace in cities. In the following decades, the system expanded to all of the United States and its territories, Canada, Bermuda. By 1967,129 area codes had been assigned, mexican participation was planned, but implementation stopped after two area codes had been assigned and Mexico opted for an international numbering format, using country code 52

24.
Area code 510
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Area code 510 is a California telephone area code that was split from area code 415 on September 2,1991. It covers most eastern Bay Area cities in Alameda County, Area code 925 was created on March 14,1998 from the eastern portion of the then 510 area code. The East Bay Hills serve as the dividing line. In the United States, AT&T originally used area 510 for its TWX network, western Union acquired the TWX network in 1969 and renamed it Telex II. By the 1970s, three TWX had been added, each major city had one or more local exchange prefixes. Western Union upgraded the network to 4-row ASCII operation and decommissioned the special TWX area codes in 1981, in Canada, TWX used area 610 from 1962 until the remaining numbers were moved to area code 600 in 1992. List of California area codes NANPA Area Code Map of California List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload. com,510 Area Code

25.
Geographic Names Information System
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It is a type of gazetteer. GNIS was developed by the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the United States Board on Geographic Names to promote the standardization of feature names, the database is part of a system that includes topographic map names and bibliographic references. The names of books and historic maps that confirm the feature or place name are cited, variant names, alternatives to official federal names for a feature, are also recorded. Each feature receives a permanent, unique feature record identifier, sometimes called the GNIS identifier, the database never removes an entry, except in cases of obvious duplication. The GNIS accepts proposals for new or changed names for U. S. geographical features, the general public can make proposals at the GNIS web site and can review the justifications and supporters of the proposals. The Bureau of the Census defines Census Designated Places as a subset of locations in the National Geographic Names Database, U. S. Postal Service Publication 28 gives standards for addressing mail. In this publication, the postal service defines two-letter state abbreviations, street identifiers such as boulevard and street, department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Division, Digital Gazeteer, Users Manual. Least Heat Moon, William, Blue Highways, A Journey Into America, standard was withdrawn in September 2008, See Federal Register Notice, Vol.73, No. 170, page 51276 Report, Principles, Policies, and Procedures, Domestic Geographic Names, U. S. Postal Service Publication 28, November 2000. Board on Geographic Names website Geographic Names Information System Proposals from the general public Meeting minutes

26.
East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
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The eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area, commonly referred to as the East Bay, includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, with a population of roughly 2.5 million in 2010, it is the most populous subregion in the Bay Area. Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay and the third largest in the Bay Area, the city serves as a major transportation hub for the U. S. West Coast, and its port is the largest in Northern California, increased population has led to the growth of such large edge cities as Berkeley, Hayward, Concord and Fremont. The Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869 with its terminus at the newly constructed Oakland Long Wharf. Today the Port of Oakland is the Bay Areas largest port, in 1868, the University of California was formed from the private College of California and a new campus was built in what would become Berkeley. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake saw a number of refugees flee to the relatively undamaged East Bay. As the East Bay grew, the push to connect it with a permanent link than ferry service resulted in the completion of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge in 1936. The Bay Area saw further growth in the decades following World War II, the 1937 completion of the Caldecott Tunnel through the Berkeley Hills fueled growth further east, where there was undeveloped land. Cities in the Diablo Valley, including Concord and Walnut Creek, the addition of the BART commuter rail system in 1972 further encouraged development in increasingly far-flung regions of the East Bay. Today, the valleys east of the Berkeley Hills contain large affluent suburban communities such as Walnut Creek, San Ramon, the East Bay is not a formally defined region, aside from its being described as a region inclusive of Alameda and Contra Costa counties. As development moves generally eastward, new areas are described as being part of the East Bay, beyond the borders of Alameda County, the large population of Tracy is connected as a bedroom community housing commuters traveling to or through the East Bay. Except for some hills and ridges which exist as parklands or undeveloped land, and some farmland in eastern Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, the East Bay is highly urbanized. The East Bay shoreline is a corridor with several cities exceeding 100,000 residents, including Oakland, Hayward, Fremont, Richmond. In the inland valleys on the east side of the Berkeley Hills, the land is developed, particularly on the eastern fringe of Contra Costa county. In the inland valleys, the density is less and the cities smaller. The only cities exceeding 100,000 residents in the valleys are Antioch. The free East Bay Monthly has been published since 1970, in the early years of the evolution of USA Today, during the early 1980s, they operated regional newspapers, with the regions paper entitled East Bay Today

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San Francisco Bay Area
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The San Francisco Bay Area is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses the cities and metropolitan areas of San Jose, San Francisco. The Bay Areas nine counties are Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma. The combined statistical area of the region is the second-largest in California, the fifth-largest in the United States, the Bay Area has the second-most Fortune 500 Companies in the United States, and is known for its natural beauty, liberal politics, entrepreneurship, and diversity. The eastern side of the bay, consisting of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, is known locally as the East Bay, the inner East Bay is more densely populated, with generally older buildings, and a more ethnically diverse population. The word Lamorinda was coined by combining the names of the cities it includes, Lafayette, Moraga, walnut Creek is situated east of Lamorinda and north of the San Ramon Valley and, together with Concord, Martinez, and Pleasant Hill comprises Central Contra Costa County. The cities of Antioch, Pittsburg, Brentwood, Oakley and the areas surrounding them comprise East Contra Costa County. The Tri-Valley consists of the Amador, the Livermore, and the San Ramon Valleys, dublin and Pleasanton comprise the Amador Valley, Livermore lies in the Livermore Valley, and the San Ramon Valley consists of Alamo, Danville, Diablo and its namesake, San Ramon. The outer East Bay is connected to the inner East Bay by BART, Interstate 580 to the south, and State Routes State Route 4 to the north, the outer East Bays infrastructure was mostly built up after World War II. This area remains largely white demographically, although the Hispanic and Filipino populations have grown significantly over the past 2–3 decades, the region north of the Golden Gate Bridge is known locally as the North Bay. This area encompasses Marin County, Sonoma County, Napa County, the city of Fairfield, being part of Solano County, is often considered the easternmost city of the North Bay. With few exceptions, this region is affluent, Marin County is ranked as the wealthiest in the state. The North Bay is relatively rural compared to the remainder of the Bay Area, with areas of undeveloped open space, farmland. Santa Rosa in Sonoma County is the North Bays largest city, with a population of 167,815 and a Metropolitan Statistical Area population of 466,891, making it the fifth-largest city in the Bay Area. The North Bay is the section of the Bay Area that is not currently served by a commuter rail service. The area from San Francisco to the Silicon Valley, geographically part of the San Francisco Peninsula, is known locally as The Peninsula, many of these families are of foreign background and have significantly contributed to the diversity of the area. Whereas the term peninsula technically refers to the entire geographical San Franciscan Peninsula, in local terms, San Francisco is surrounded by water on three sides, the north, east, and west. The city squeezes roughly 870,000 people in under 47 square miles, on any given day, there can be as many as 1 million people in the city because of the commuting population and tourism

28.
San Pablo, California
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San Pablo is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city of Richmond surrounds nearly the whole city, the population was 29,139 at the 2010 census. The current Mayor is Rich Kinney, and the current Vice Mayor is Paul V. Morris, current Council members include Cecilia Valdez, Kathy Chao Rothberg, and Rich Kinney. The area in which todays San Pablo is situated was originally occupied by the Cuchiyun band of the Ohlone indigenous people, the area was claimed for the king of Spain in the late 18th century and was granted for grazing purposes to the Mission Dolores located in todays San Francisco. The grant was given the name Rancho San Pablo, thus originating the name for todays city as well as for one of the East Bays oldest principal roads, todays San Pablo Avenue. Upon Gabriélas death in 1851, it was inherited by her daughter, Martina Castro de Alvarado, wife of Juan Bautista Alvarado, the Alvarado Adobe was demolished in the mid-20th century to make way for a motel. A reproduction was built later in the century which is located in the San Pablo Civic Center on the northwest corner of San Pablo Avenue and Church Lane. A single beam from the structure is incorporated into the roof of the replacement structure. The first post office was established in 1854, since the middle of the 20th Century College Center at El Portal has been the backbone of the communitys retail economy. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 2.6 square miles. San Pablo lies on a plain between the northern end of the Berkeley Hills and San Pablo Bay, although the city limits do not extend to the bayshore. The city is traversed by two creeks, Wildcat Creek and San Pablo Creek, both of which originate in the ranges to its southeast. The minor Rheem Creek also runs through the city and it is also traversed along its northeast limits by the Hayward Fault, a major branch of the San Andreas Fault which lies to the west. Interstate 80 passes through San Pablo, there are several communities to the north of the City and separated from the City, but which have San Pablo, California mailing addresses. These include the areas of Tara Hills, Bayview. According to the Citys 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are, the 2010 United States Census reported that San Pablo had a population of 29,139. The population density was 11,063.4 people per square mile. The racial makeup of San Pablo was 9,391 White,4,600 African American,244 Native American,4,353 Asian,172 Pacific Islander,8,812 from other races, Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16,462 persons

29.
Albany, California
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Albany is a city in Alameda County, California. The population was 18,539 at the 2010 census, in 1908, a group of local women protested the dumping of Berkeley garbage in their community. Armed with two shotguns and a rifle, they confronted the drivers of the wagons near what is now the corner of San Pablo Avenue. The women told the drivers of the horse-drawn garbage wagons to go home, shortly thereafter, the residents of the town voted to incorporate as the City of Ocean View. In 1909, voters changed the name of the city, primarily to distinguish the city from the adjacent section of Berkeley which had previously been named Ocean View. On a vote of 38 to 6 the city was renamed in honor of Albany, New York, the birthplace of the citys first mayor, Frank Roberts. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 5.5 square miles. The principal shopping street in Albany is Solano Avenue, which cuts across the city from west to east, another important street is San Pablo Avenue, which travels from north to south. Albany is located on the shore of San Francisco Bay, bordering the city of Berkeley to the south and east. Albanys northern and southern borders are defined by two creeks, Codornices Creek on the south and Cerrito Creek on the north, Cerrito Creek takes its name from El Cerrito de San Antonio, now known as Albany Hill. The hills unusual location near the bay makes it a prominent landmark in the East Bay. The rest of the city is flat by Bay Area standards. Albanys waterfront has undergone significant man-made changes, the most prominent landform is now the Albany Bulb, the bulb was the site of a small art colony and shanty town until it was cleared to turn the area into part of the new Eastshore State Park. University Village, a unit of the University of California Berkeley, is located in Albany. The 2010 United States Census reported that Albany had a population of 18,539, as of 2012, Albany had a population of 18,969. The population density was 3,392.1 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Albany was 10,128 White,645 African American,88 Native American,5,790 Asian,37 Pacific Islander,607 from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,891 persons. The Census reported that 18,454 people lived in households,74 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, there were 341 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 123 same-sex married couples or partnerships

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El Cerrito, California
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El Cerrito is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, and forms part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It has a population of 23,549 according to the 2010 census, El Cerrito was founded by refugees from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It was incorporated in 1917 as a village with 1500 residents, as of the census in 2000, there were 23,171 people,10,208 households and 5971 families in the city. El Cerrito was founded by refugees from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and they settled in what was then Don Víctor Castros Rancho San Pablo, and adjacent to the ranch owned by the family of Luís María Peralta, the Rancho San Antonio. A post office opened at the settlement in 1909 and the camp became known as Rust, after Wilhelm F. Rust. The villages residents did not care for the name and changed it to El Cerrito in 1916, a year later, El Cerrito was incorporated as a village with 1,500 residents. The name means hill or knoll. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 3.7 square miles. The city is at an elevation of 69 feet, El Cerrito is located on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. The hilly areas of El Cerrito provide spectacular views of its famous neighbor, El Cerrito is located along Interstate 80, and nearby Interstate 580. The city is less than 30 miles from two major airports, El Cerrito is bordered by Albany and Kensington to the south, the Richmond annex to the west, East Richmond Heights to the north, and Wildcat Canyon Regional Park to the east. Local landmark Albany Hill is in Albany, just across the border with El Cerrito, the Hayward Fault runs through El Cerrito. In addition, El Cerrito is within 150 meters of Berkeley to the southeast, El Cerrito is approximately 5 miles from the University of California Berkeley campus and has two BART stations, El Cerrito del Norte and El Cerrito Plaza. FAST, Golden Gate Transit, Vallejo Transit, Napa VINE, San Pablo Avenue stretches the length of El Cerrito and is the primary commercial and retail corridor of the city. The shopping center is surrounded by commercial and retail businesses along San Pablo Avenue. El Cerrito city parks include both recreation/sports parks as well as undeveloped nature areas, most notable are the 80-acre Hillside Natural Area open space, Huber Park, Cerrito Vista Park, and Arlington Park, Tassajara Park, Poinsett Park, and the Canyon Trail Park and Art Center. The city is home to Arhoolie Records, part of the Smithsonian Institution, also located in the city is Playland-Not-At-The-Beach, a popular amusement park museum. The 2010 United States Census reported that El Cerrito had a population of 23,549, the population density was 6,385.3 people per square mile

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Pinole, California
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Pinole is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 18,390 at the 2010 census, the name derives from “pinole”, a Native American word for a kind of flour made from the seeds of maize, chia, and various other grasses and annual herbs. An expedition under Pedro Fages was said to have run out of provisions while exploring the area, and been fed pinole by a local village, and so the Spaniards named their camp “El Pinole”. In 1823, Ygnacio Martinez, commandant of the Presidio of San Francisco, Martinez built a hacienda in Pinole Valley at the present side of Pinole Valley Park. From these early beginnings, a small but thriving community grew into the city now known as Pinole, the settlement grew with the coming of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1878 and the establishment of the California Powder Works in nearby Hercules. During this period, this city had an active waterfront and was a regional commercial, the first post office also opened in 1878. The City of Pinole was incorporated in 1903, Pinole and the surrounding area grew rapidly during the post-World War II boom. With the coming of Interstate 80 in 1958, the town evolved into a bedroom community within the San Francisco/Oakland commuter belt. Much of its industry was displaced during this time. Today, the town is known for its “big box” shopping store district along Fitzgerald Avenue, and Pinole Vista Shopping Center. The downtown area still retains many turn-of-the-century building stock and is being preserved by the development agency as a historic area. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 13.6 square miles. 5.3 square miles of it is land, and 8.3 square miles of it is water, the city of Pinole has habitat areas that support the endangered species Santa Cruz Tarweed on the California coastal prairie ecosystem. A colony of rare plant was discovered during preparation of an Environmental Impact Report for a proposed shopping center on the east side of I-80 in the late 1980s. Subsequently, a plan was developed by the city to conduct replanting of this tarweed on the slopes within the right-of-way of Interstate Highway 80, also running through is Pinole Creek. The 2010 United States Census reported that Pinole had a population of 18,390, the population density was 1,354.7 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Pinole was 8,488 White,2,458 African American,147 Native American,4,220 Asian,64 Pacific Islander,1,741 from other races, Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4,005 persons. The Census reported that 18,322 people lived in households,53 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, there were 325 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 76 same-sex married couples or partnerships

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Unincorporated area
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Occasionally, municipalities dissolve or disincorporate, which may happen if they become fiscally insolvent, and services become the responsibility of a higher administration. In some countries, such as in Brazil, Japan, France or the United Kingdom, unlike many other countries, Australia has only one level of local government immediately beneath state and territorial governments. A local government area often contains several towns and even entire cities, thus, aside from very sparsely populated areas and a few other special cases, almost all of Australia is part of an LGA. Unincorporated areas are often in locations, cover vast areas or have very small populations. Postal addresses in unincorporated areas, as in parts of Australia. Thus, there is any ambiguity regarding addresses in unincorporated areas. The Australian Capital Territory has no municipalities and is in some sense an unincorporated area, the territorial government is directly responsible for matters normally carried out by local government. The far west and north of New South Wales constitutes the Unincorporated Far West Region, a civil servant in the state capital manages such matters as are necessary. The second unincorporated area of state is Lord Howe Island. In the Northern Territory,1. 45% of the area and 4. In South Australia, 60% of the area is unincorporated and communities located within can receive services provided by a state agency. Firstly, the remote area that is unincorporated is the Abrolhos Islands. Secondly, the unincorporated areas are A-class reserves either in, or close to. In Canada, depending on the province, a settlement is one that does not have a municipal council that governs solely over the settlement. It is usually, but not always, part of a municipal government. This can range from hamlets to large urbanized areas that are similar in size to towns. In British Columbia, unincorporated settlements lie outside municipal boundaries entirely, Unincorporated settlements with a population of between 100 and 1,000 residents may have the status of designated place in Canadian census data. In some provinces, large tracts of undeveloped wilderness or rural country are unorganized areas that fall directly under the provincial jurisdiction

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North Richmond, California
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North Richmond is the poorest community in Contra Costa County. The area of North Richmond was populated by Ohlone tribes which settled the area in the 6th century, however Hokan speaking people may have inhabited the area even earlier, and archaeological evidence shows human settlement to have begun at least by 4000 BC. The Ohlone tribesmen subsisted from hunter-gatherering the bountiful amount of land, especially the great amounts of seafood made available along the coastline of Castro Cove and the surrounding marshlands and delta of Wildcat and San Pablo creeks. The majority of present-day North Richmond was territory of the Karkin tribe however the land lies on what was an area with the Chocheño tribe. The tribes made use of the salmon and trout runs on the rivers. However, today, culverting and damming has decimated the habitat for these species, in the early part of the 20th century, North Richmond was populated by Italian-Americans. During World War II, many African-Americans moved from the South and Midwest, many came to work in Richmonds shipyards and consequently, moved into North Richmond. Subsequently many of the residents were employed in the petroleum, railway, to this day, most of the residents are African American. Today, the area retains the label of The Ghetto due to its high rates, unemployment. Since the 1970s, many Latinos, especially Mexicans, have moved into the area, more recently, there has been an influx of Asian immigrants. In the 2000s there was an exodus of businesses. Currently the population is estimated to be about 2,300 by the county of Contra Costa and 2,500 by the Richmond Confidential, the 2010 United States Census reported that North Richmond had a population of 3,717. The population density was 2,399.6 people per square mile. The racial makeup of North Richmond was 1,239 African American,634 White,431 Asian,23 Native American,18 Pacific Islander,1,191 from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,862 persons. The Census reported that 100% of the lived in households. There were 86 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 4 same-sex married couples or partnerships,184 households were made up of individuals and 70 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.62, there were 778 families, the average family size was 4.02. The median age was 29.0 years, for every 100 females there were 98.9 males

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Kensington, California
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Kensington is an affluent, unincorporated community and census designated place located in the Berkeley Hills, in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area, in Contra Costa County, California. The population was 5,077 at the 2010 census, Kensington is an affluent, unincorporated community of Contra Costa County that borders Alameda County. Unlike many unincorporated communities, Kensington has local jurisdiction over its police department, park services, refuse collection and these are governed by two elected boards. The five-member Kensington Police Protection and Community Services District Board oversees the department, park services. The KPPCSD is also responsible for maintaining the public stairways and paths in Kensington, the Kensington Municipal Advisory Board is a commission whose members are appointed by the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors. KMAC is charged with land-use and development review and provides recommendations to the county planning, the sewer system is maintained by the Stege Sanitary District, which also includes the city of El Cerrito and the Richmond Annex area of Richmond. The East Bay Municipal Utility District supplies water and wastewater treatment services, AC Transit operates local transit service. The house numbers on streets follow the pattern used in Berkeley and Albany, the area that is now Kensington was originally the territory of the Huichin band of the Ohlone indigenous people who occupied much of the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The Pedro Fages mapping expedition passed through the area in 1772, in 1831 his youngest son, Victor Castro, inherited the southern portion of the rancho, including what is now Kensington. In 1892, Anson Blake purchased a portion of Castros land, in 1901, George Shima bought ten acres north of Cerrito Creek and east of the present day Arlington Avenue, intending to build a home there. He hosted a community picnic on the property for some time. Land development companies had bought most of the Kensington area by 1911, the area was named Kensington that year by Robert Brousefield, a surveyor who had lived in the London borough of South Kensington at one time. Farmers in Kensington resisted inclusion in the city of El Cerrito when it was incorporated in 1917, some of the water received by this facility is pumped up the hill to the Summit Reservoir located at the top of Spruce Street. The rest is pumped to other reservoirs serving the East Bay, the population of Kensington was 226 in 1920,1,423 in 1930,3,355 in 1940, and reached a peak of 6,601 in 1950. The house is often described as being in Berkeley. Until 1948, streetcar line #7 of the Key System ran to Kensington from Berkeley along Arlington Avenue, the streetcar was then replaced by an AC Transit bus route of the same name which continues to run along Arlington Avenue. The streetcar service played an important role in the development of Kensington, the late local historian Louis Stein Jr. lived and worked in Kensington, maintaining a pharmacy on the corner of Amherst and Arlington Avenue. For many years, he one of the East Bays oldest horsecars in his yard—one that had probably seen service between Temescal, Oakland and the University of California in Berkeley

35.
El Sobrante, California
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El Sobrante is a census-designated place in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 12,669 at the 2010 census, according to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 2.8 square miles, all of it land. El Sobrante is unincorporated and lies within Contra Costa County, main roads include San Pablo Dam Road, Valley View Road and Appian Way. San Pablo Dam Road and Appian Way both connect to Interstate 80 to the west, El Sobrante also contains San Pablo Creek, running behind the library, ACE hardware store and many homes. Between 5000 and 1000 BC, a tribe of people called the Huichin. One of the Huichin villages was located where the El Sobrante Library now stands, the Huichin left a now-buried shell mound beside San Pablo Creek. Between November 1794 and May 1795, the Huichin were forcibly converted to Christianity by Spanish missionaries, in pursuing the runaways, the Franciscans sent neophytes first and soldiers to go round up the runaway Christians from their relatives, and bring them back to the missions. Thus illness spread both inside and outside of the missions, after Mexican independence from Spain in the early 19th century, Spanish colonists were given land grants, one of which was Rancho El Sobrante, deeded to Juan Jose and Víctor Castro in 1841. In this sense, the rancho was el sobrante, the remaining area, legal disputes concerning the borders and the claims of squatters continued for four decades, with much of the land sold to pay court and attorney costs. Victor Castro was left with 549 acres of the original grant and he built an adobe dwelling in what is now El Cerrito, and became one of the first members of the Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County. Castro died at the age of 90 in 1897, some of his descendants still live in the area of Castro Ranch Road. El Sobrante was called Oak Grove by industrial concerns in 1887 when the California, then the name Sobrante was applied, with the addition of the Spanish definite article El coinciding with the opening of the first post office in 1941. By the early 20th century, Rancho El Sobrante had been reduced to a number of smaller ranches, many of these ranches were further subdivided. As roads were paved and homes were constructed, El Sobrante changed from a rural to a semi-rural community, the 2010 United States Census reported that El Sobrante had a population of 12,669. The population density was 4,581.4 people per square mile. The racial makeup of El Sobrante was 6,405 White,1,673 African American,127 Native American,1,986 Asian,113 Pacific Islander,1,384 from other races, Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3,036 persons. The Census reported that 12,620 people lived in households,49 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, there were 312 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 67 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,170 households were made up of individuals and 373 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.65

36.
Bayview-Montalvin, California
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Bayview-Montalvin is a former census-designated place in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 5,004 at the 2000 census, prior to the 2010 census, the CDP was dissolved into Bayview CDP and Montalvin Manor CDP. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has an area of 0.8 square miles. As of the census of 2000, there were 5,004 people,1,461 households, the population density was 7,845.0 people per square mile. There were 1,476 housing units at a density of 2,314.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the CDP was 47. 72% White,11. 97% Black or African American,1. 10% Native American,13. 89% Asian,0. 76% Pacific Islander,19. 24% from other races, and 5. 32% from two or more races. 35. 19% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,16. 6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8. 7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.42 and the family size was 3.78. In the CDP, the population was out with 28. 9% under the age of 18,9. 1% from 18 to 24,28. 4% from 25 to 44,22. 2% from 45 to 64. The median age was 34 years, for every 100 females there were 96.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.4 males, the median income for a household in the CDP was $50,750, and the median income for a family was $53,315. Males had an income of $43,750 versus $30,318 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $16,056, about 7. 8% of families and 11. 7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11. 1% of those under age 18 and 7. 9% of those age 65 or over

37.
Tara Hills, California
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Tara Hills is a census-designated place in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 5,126 at the 2010 census, according to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 0.6 square miles, all of it land. Tara Hills is located in the San Francisco Bay Area region of Northern California, although this is a census area, outside of the City of San Pablo, the mailing addresses are San Pablo, California. The 2010 United States Census reported that Tara Hills had a population of 5,126, the population density was 8,028.2 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Tara Hills was 2,212 White,682 African American,31 Native American,869 Asian,18 Pacific Islander,1,018 from other races, Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,947 persons. The Census reported that 99. 7% of the lived in households and 0. 3% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters. There were 82 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 13 same-sex married couples or partnerships,326 households were made up of individuals and 147 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.08, there were 1,252 families, the average family size was 3.55. The median age was 36.8 years, for every 100 females there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males, there were 1,729 housing units at an average density of 2,707.9 per square mile, of which 1,159 were owner-occupied, and 503 were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2. 0%, the vacancy rate was 3. 3%. 3,618 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,494 people lived in housing units. As of the census of 2000, there were 5,332 people,1,792 households, the population density was 6,819.4 people per square mile. There were 1,817 housing units at a density of 2,323.9 per square mile. The racial makeup of the CDP was 51. 76% White,14. 44% Black or African American,0. 66% Native American,14. 14% Asian,0. 54% Pacific Islander,12. 55% from other races, and 5. 91% from two or more races. 23. 87% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,17. 9% of all households were made up of individuals and 5. 0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96 and the family size was 3.34. In the CDP, the population was out with 26. 1% under the age of 18,8. 6% from 18 to 24,31. 2% from 25 to 44,23. 2% from 45 to 64